ALBANY – Gov. Paterson grimly declared yesterday that New York faces a historically unprecedented four-year, $47 billion budget deficit, $20 billion higher than projected just three months ago – and will need some form of federal bailout.

“In order to address these issues, as New York is really the epicenter of the national crisis of finance, we’re going to need federal assistance,” said Paterson , as he presented a six-month report on the state’s current budget.

He is slated to testify before the House Ways and Means Committee today, “I will encourage our colleagues in government in Washington of the importance of stabilizing New York’s economy, as it is a vital engine in the production of economic development in our national economy,” Paterson continued.

He refused to say how much aid he wanted from Washington, but he repeated the frequently made argument that New York taxpayers have been treated unfairly because they annually send far more money to the nation’s capital then the state ever receives in return.

ka-1>”I don’t want to give Washington a number I want back, I want to give them the numbers New York has contributed to the federal treasury . . . That number is up to $89 billion,” he said.

An aide said the governor wanted substantial hikes in federal funding for the massive Medicaid program and unemployment insurance, and for public works to help rebuild the state’s infrastructure.

Paterson said that the state’s current $122 billion budget for the fiscal year ending March 31 is more than $1.5 billion out of balance, and that next year’s projected deficit would likely reach $12.5 billion, figures he first outlined last week.

The governor provided new deficit projections for future fiscal years, including $15.8 billion in 2010-11 and $17.2 billion for 2011-12.

Paterson also revealed that the state Budget Division was forecasting that New York would lose “at least” 160,000 jobs, including 45,000 on Wall Street, as a result of the financial sector’s meltdown and the national recession.

Paterson, who has ordered the Legislature back to Albany for an “emergency economic session” on Nov. 18 in a bid to slash spending, refused to say which cuts he wanted to be made.

He also suggested he might play financial chicken with state lawmakers, not making his proposed cuts public until they revealed theirs.

“I’m going to wait for them to put their ideas for cuts on the table, and then I will try to congeal [sic] them with our ideas,” said Paterson.

But Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos (R-Nassau) quickly indicated that he wanted Paterson to outline his plans first, saying he looked “forward to reviewing the governor’s plan for dealing with the state’s growing deficit.”

Paterson left no doubt, however, that the spending cuts eventually agreed upon would be broad, declaring, “There will be hard and painful cuts. There is no segment of this budget that will not be cut.”